Studies

September 28, 2010

Three economists (Shamena Anwar, Patrick Bayer, Randi Hjalmarsson) recently published the results of their study of Sarasota County, Florida jurors. The study examined the impact of the racial composition of the jury on acquittal rates. One noticeable finding of the study was that “all-white juries acquit whites more often and are less favorable to black versus white defendants when compared to juries with at least one black member.”

This paper examines the impact of jury racial composition on trial outcomes using a unique dataset of all felony trials in Sarasota County, Florida between 2004 and 2009. We utilize a research design that exploits day-to-day variation in the composition of the jury pool to isolate quasi-random variation in the composition of the seated jury. We find strong evidence that all-white juries acquit whites more often and are less favorable to black versus white defendants when compared to juries with at least one black member. Using the Anwar-Fang rank order test, we find strong statistical evidence of discrimination on the basis of defendant race. These results are consistent with racial prejudice on the part of white jurors, black jurors, or both. Using a simple model of jury selection and decision-making, we replicate the entire set of empirical regularities observed in the data, including the fact that blacks in the jury pool are just as likely as whites to be seated. Simulations of the model suggest that jurors of each race are heterogeneous in the standards of evidence that they require to convict and that both black and white defendants would prefer to face jurors of the same race

February 18, 2010

Are juries fair?by Cheryl Thomas, Professor at the Centre for Empirical Legal Studies at University College London, is a two-year long survey of more than 1,000 jurors at Crown Courts and a separate study of over 68,000 jury verdicts.

In the report, sensitive issues about jury decision-making have been tackled for the first time.

It reveals that:

all-white juries do not discriminate against defendants from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds

juries almost always reach a verdict and convict two-thirds of the time

there are no courts where juries acquit more often than convict.

It also shows that:

jurors want more information about how to do their job

written instructions improve jurors’ legal understanding of cases

some jurors use the internet to look for information about their case

some jurors find media reports of their case difficult to ignore.

Professor Thomas said:

‘This research shows that juries in England and Wales were found to be fair, effective and efficient – and should lay to rest any lingering concerns that racially-balanced juries are needed to ensure fairness in trials with BME defendants or racial evidence.

‘But it is also clear from the research that jurors want and need better information to perform this crucial role. The study recommends that all sworn jurors be issued with written guidelines explaining what improper conduct is, including use of the internet, and how and when to report it. The study also recommends that judges consider issuing jurors with written instructions on the law to be applied in each case. Both changes will help maintain the integrity of the jury system.’